Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1887-07-23
THE GREAT UNTRUTH.'

1dE GhEAI UNTRUTH.'
Geo c. Ohren, in the Current, well says
that Henry George appeals to the worst
side OF human nature That is, he arouses
in the minds of his followers the predatory
instinct which philosophers In all ages
have labored to subdue" Unquestionably
Mr.. George has played with consummate art
upon the fallacy which Ohren with admir-
able fitness denominatcs "the great I'M
truth, that progress is always accompanied
by an alarming increase of poverty; that
want increases with increasing wealth.
Not long ago we had occasion to quote
from Professor W. 7. Harris, statistics de-
rived from the Census Bureau reports, and
from Mr.. Nimmos researches, that as
wealth has increased and great fortunes
become more numerous, the domestic con-
dition of the laboring classes has proper
tionately advanced along the lines of phys
zeal comforts, and increased wages and
earnings Professor Harris might well
have added that the advance has been even
more notable along intellectual lines; for
in the diffusion of knowledge and the ac-
ceesibility of learning, the progress has
been still greater There are now no
longer any intellectual treasures closed to
any classes Of men. Indeed, a very large
proportion of accumulated wealth has,
within the last half century, been dis
posed for the enlargement of the oppor-
tunities to gain knowledge, am
hence TO fit men the more
to better their condition The great dis
coyories have all tended in this direction,
and those lines on which much money has
beeu made, the press and the means of
communication and of exchange, have con-
tributed more than any other agencies to
enhghten men and bring them into closer
and more harmonious relations, because
they make men more dependent upon each
other, and knit together the interests of
communities which else would remain
foreign to each other in the sevcrest
sense. Far more injury has been done the
wage-winners of the day by the preaching
of the false doctrine that the increasing
wealth of the world menaces the poor, or
comparatively poor, than 10y any real as
sauits by aggregated capital and private
fortunes upon the rights OF the less fortu-
nate in the possession of worldly goods.
Returning to Mr.. Ohren's monograph
he refutes Georges fallacy about the in
creasing poverty marking the steps of in
creasinr wealth, and accelerated progress.
by taking the single case of the city of
London, which Socialists delight to cite
rs a terrible example of the truth of their
Indictment OF society In London it is
found tina; poverty has actually decreased,
despite the abnormal conditions of society
in such great cities. No population in
creaseS more rapidly than that of the cap
ital OF England. In thirty years it has
risen from 2,GS6,17i to 4,149,53S and its
material resources have correspondingly
advanced. But in the same period pau
perism has declined, not only relatively
but absolutely. In 1857 London. with the
population first stated, had %, 2Sl paupers
land in England the statistics of pauper-
ism are accurately gathered), but in 1856.
with over 100000 population, the pau
pers numbered 90,901-a decrease of $3.50
during the period when the popula-
ton actually increased over one
and half millions In 1857
there we're $40 paupers to every 200 of the
population; in 1856, there were but PIG.
Inc same Is true of England and Wales.
In 1857 they had 9,256,5 16 of population,
with s2S,75s paupers. But in 1886. with
2f,s705s6 Of population, there were but
'oo,S22 pauPers, a decrease of 1892. So
that while in 1857 England and Wales
had 43 pGupers to the l, 900 of population. !
in 1856 there were but %.
Probably still more remarkably strik-
ing exhibit could be made regarding our
own country, had the statistics of poverty
been as well kept here. Not that proper
tionateiy pauperisn was ever so developed
here, but because, with such as we have.
our progress IN the accumulation of wealth
has been much greater than in the case
OF England
But while we know for certainty that